Madness ends March Madness.
The no. 2 seed Villanova Wildcats beat no. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels on one of the most thrilling championship games in NCAA tournament history.
The Wildcats opened as the slight underdog with Oddshark.com setting Villanova at +2. North Carolina, a double-digit winner in each of their five games en route to the final, held a 39-34 half-time lead in their pursuit of a sixth championship title, but the Wildcats fought back, going on a 33-16 run to forge a 10-point lead with 5.29 minutes left.
The NCAA tournament comes to a dramatic close after Kris Jenkins sinked a game-winning three-point buzzer beater to lift Villanova over North Carolina, 77-74, in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game Monday night.
Another remarkable part of Villanova’s title run is that the team does not have at least one future first-round pick on their roster, whereas the previous 28 national champions have as many as four or five.
Jenkins finished with 14 points while back-up guard Phil Booth led the win with 20, hitting six of seven shots with Ryan Arcidiacono adding 16 and Josh Hart with 12. Meanwhile, Tar Heels star Marcus Paige was his team’s standout with 21 points, six assists and five rebounds, just ahead of Joel Berry with 20 points.
One of the big storylines on this year’s NCAA basketball season is the sibling match-up between Jenkins and Nate Britt.
Britt and Jenkins are not brothers by blood but Jenkins has lived with Britt’s family since they were in middle school. The Britts legally adopted Jenkins in 2007 when Jenkins’ mother decided they would give her young son a better life. While the two joke about the winner being able to lord the result over the loser until they’re old and grey, they know this game, win, lose or draw, is a win-win for the family.
The victory gave Villanova a second NCAA Final Four title and first national title since 1985.
That final five seconds… that one crucial shot….sibling rivalry…and an underdog winning a championship after 31 years. Nope, it’s not a sports movie script but it could be a good one.
Watch Jenkins’ winning shot
